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The Revolt of Ustadhsis

خروج أستاذسيس

c. 767 CE · 150 AH

In year 150 the Khurasani troops renounced obedience under the amir Ustadhsis and he seized most of Khurasan; the Khurasani army's levy reached three hundred thousand horse and foot. Ajtham al-Marwazi fought them and was killed and his army plundered; Khazim ibn Khuzayma then took the field in a vast host, and the famous battle they fought is said to have killed seventy thousand. Ustadhsis fled to a mountain; the next year Khazim had the fourteen thousand captives beheaded, besieged him until he surrendered, bound him and released his thirty thousand followers 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Persia & Central Asia
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

750760770780 c.
The Early Abbasid Caliphate · The Umayyad Period

Overview

In 150 AH Khurasani armies rose against obedience under the amir Ustadhsis, and he took most of Khurasan. Al-Mansur sent Khazim ibn Khuzayma to fight them. 2

The events

Al-Suyuti says that the number of the Khurasani army reached three hundred thousand fighters. Ajtham al-Marwazi faced them, was killed, and his army was plundered. 2

Khazim prepared a large army, and the two sides met in a famous battle, in which it is said seventy thousand were killed. Ustadhsis fled to a mountain. 2

The end

In the following year Khazim ordered the captives, who numbered fourteen thousand, to be beheaded. Then they besieged Ustadhsis for a time, until he gave himself up; they shackled him and released his soldiers, who were thirty thousand. 2

All the numbers come from al-Suyuti's account, and the phrase "it is said" signals reserve about the number of the dead. The report needs an additional source.

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Abu Ja'far al-Mansur· Khazim ibn Khuzayma al-Tamimi

People and things also explored

The Entry of Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil into al-Andalus· Beginning of the codification of knowledge· The Building of the Hashimite City at Kufa· Death of al-Mansur· Deposition of Isa ibn Musa from the succession· The Fall of Qaliqala, 133, and its Rebuilding· The Founding of Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad)· The Building of al-Rafiqa

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 425-426
  2. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p.425-426
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Revolt of Ustadhsis”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/ustadhsis-revolt/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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The Entry of Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil into al-Andalus

In year 138 Abd al-Rahman ibn Muawiya ibn Hisham the Umayyad entered al-Andalus and seized it; his days extended and al-Andalus remained in his descendants' hands past the year 400. A man of learning and justice whose mother was Berber, they said: 'The world is ruled by two sons of Berber women — al-Mansur and Abd al-Rahman ibn Muawiya.' By year 148 nothing lay outside al-Mansur's sway but al-Andalus, held by Abd al-Rahman, who did not take the title Commander of the Faithful but only amir — as did his sons.